Gemini 9

The Gemini 9 embroidered patch, as seen in these details from various photos, shows the Gemini
spacecraft in rendezvous with an Agena target vehicle and an astronaut performing an EVA.

It can be clearly seen that the crew (and support staff) wore the patches without the name tab.

During training for the Apollo 10 mission, however, Stafford wore the complete version with the name tab
alongside a Gemini 6 crew patch on his flight suit, as can be seen in the photo on the right
taken from the LIFE magazine archives.

The Crew Patches

Patch id:

Gemini 9 Crew Patch

Worn by crew?

Yes. The crew wore these patches on their space suits
during the mission.

Unflown examples sold in the last few years went for $850 to $1252[1].

Notes:

The Crew Patch was produced with a name tab but this was trimmed away for use on the space suits of the crew. Examples that surface
today are sometimes intact and sometimes trimmed, as per
this example.

This patch has now been identified as having been produced by Texas Art Embroidery for NASA. The production run was likely limited to something like 110 examples, as was the case with the TAE Gemini 10 patch.

Patch id:

Gemini 9 Crew Souvenir Patch [GT9UNK1]

Worn by crew?

Yes. Worn by Cernan on his flight jacket alongside
Apollo 10 and 17 crew patches at around the time of the Apollo 17 mission, as seen
here.

Flown?

Yes. An example sold at Bonhams in 2014 was identified as flown by Stafford.

This distinctive vintage patch merges the lower name tab of the crew version into the main body of the patch. As well as being worn by Cernan on his
flight jacket a few years later this patch may also have been flown on the mission, as evidenced by an example sold at Bonhams in 2014 from
Stafford's estate which was identified as flown on Gemini 9.

This patch, only identified in 2009, is a very close match to the Crew patch but has enough distinct differences to indicate
that it was likely produced by a different manufacturer and is not just an example of a separate production run of the Crew patch.

Notable differences include the fact that it is embroidered onto grey cloth (the crew patch has dark blue or black), the blue background thread has an apparent vertical alignment (horizontal on the crew patch), the "IX" is thinner than the crew version (on which the X meets up above and below the Agena), and the astronaut has a much bolder outline.

Patch id:

AB Emblem 2010 Replica patch

Worn by crew?

No.

Flown?

No.

Manufacturer:

AB Emblem

Distribution:

Available commercially.

Dimensions:

4" / 102 x 73mm

Type:

Fully embroidered. Stitched border with cut edge.

Scarcity:

Limited production run.

Value:

On sale at approx. $7

Notes:

A high quality modern replica of the Gemini 9 crew patch, produced by AB Emblem in 2010 in collaboration with Gene Dorr.

Patch id:

AB Emblem souvenir patch

Worn by crew?

No.

Flown?

No.

Manufacturer:

AB Emblem

Distribution:

Sold commercially.

Dimensions:

Approx. 3" / 75mm

Type:

Partially embroidered. Merrowed edge with 'tail'.

Scarcity:

Common.

Value:

Minimal value.

Notes:

The standard souvenir AB Emblem version of the patch is crude and incorportates the crew names into a tabless design.

Patch id:

Eagle One Aerospace Replica patch

Worn by crew?

No.

Flown?

No.

Manufacturer:

Eagle One Aerospace / Cargo Bay Emblems

Distribution:

Was available commercially.

Dimensions:

4 1/8 x 3¼" / 105 x 83mm

Type:

Partially embroidered. Stitched border with cut edge.

Scarcity:

Uncommon.

Value:

Unknown.

Notes:

A fairly accurate replica patch produced in the late 80s by Eagle One Aerospace.
The most obvious difference is the triangluar hatch on this version.